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A Long Island dog lover wants to bring post-Christmas cheer to dozens of Chihuahuas cruelly abandoned by heartless owners.

Laura Zambito, founder of the no-kill Precious Pups Rescue in Calverton, LI, said she’s been inundated by Chihuahuas in the past month, in a sad aftermath of Christmas gifting gone awry.

The now shelter has 20 of the tiny Mexican dogs seeking new homes, including one found abandoned — and wearing a pink dress — in Mount Vernon.

“It’s really sad,” Zambito told The Post on Thursday. “People give them as gifts and, inevitably, it doesn’t work out and they end up in shelters.”

While December has always been prime time in the Chihuahua-rescue business, this season has been particularly busy.

Shelter operators said they receive Chihuahuas all the time, but were sent 32 in one shipment on Dec. 13.

“A dog is for life — it’s not just for Christmas,” said Zambito. “It shouldn’t be given as a gift.”

Trend-setters like Paris Hilton made Chihuahuas all the rage earlier this decade. But the dog-as-fashion trend has come at a terrible price.

In the Big Apple alone, 819 Chihuahuas were left to the city’s Animal Care & Control from 2010 to 2012, according to data obtained by The Post. Another 1,090 Chihuahuas were picked up by AC&C as strays.

Zambito said the faster she can adopt out her current crop of Chihuahuas, the more kill-free space she can open for other needy pets.

“We’ll do anything we can to get them saved,” Zambito said.

Despite years of warnings from animal advocates, shoppers still casually grab Chihuahuas as gifts.

“The Chihuahuas seem to be just the one breed people think of as [a fashion] accessory,” said Zambito’s Precious Pup partner Rose Hooghkirk. “They don’t get it. It’s like telling someone not to drive after they drink, but people still do it.”

One of the Chihuahuas now in their care — an 8-year-old named Miss Vanilla — was found wandering the streets of Mount Vernon in Westchester County in a pink dress and no one claimed her.

“These dogs, they’re small, they’re easy to dress up and they look really, really cute — and that’s what people see,” Zambito said.